MATT SMITH has something to show me. “When I first started this job, a little boy gave me a model Dalek and I have kept it ever since.”

With that, the highly engaging actor pulls the tiny toy out of his jacket pocket and proudly displays it to me. “This is three years old now. His thing [the sink plunger] is a bit droopy but I always keep it in this jacket.”

The mini-Dalek is a constant reminder to 30-year-old Matt of how much the part that has made him famous, the brilliantly eccentric Time Lord, means to viewers young and old. As Doctor Who nears its 50th anniversary next November, the popularity of the programme is showing no sign of waning.

That is underlined by the fact that this year’s Yuletide special, which goes out in a prime Christmas Day slot, is bound to be one of the channel’s highest-rated programmes over the festive season.

In The Snowmen, written by the acclaimed showrunner Steven Moffat, the Doctor is still pining for his lost companions Amy and Rory. Miserable and alone, he has locked himself away in his new-look Tardis. He has retired from all saving-the-universe activity.

However, Earth is suddenly menaced by a terrifying army of sharp-toothed snowmen who are being marshalled by a suitably deranged Dr Simeon (Richard E Grant). On Christmas Eve, 1892, a spirited young governess called Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman) summons the Doctor to rescue the world. Can he ignore her call?

Matt, who is as winning a presence off-screen as on it, has evidently had a ball during the filming. “It was great fun,” beams the actor. “We have got the wonderful Richard E Grant, who is brilliant in a villainous role. We also meet the Doctor’s new companion [the aforementioned Clara] and it does the sort of marvellous Doctor Who-ey Christmas things. You know: snow, aliens, good will, good cheer, someone trying to take over the world. Hopefully it makes for really good Christmas Day telly.”

Matt, who is the 11th incarnation of the Time Lord and has been in the job since taking over the controls of the Tardis from David Tennant in 2009, clearly enjoys a great relationship with the show’s intergalactic number of fans, known in the trade as Whovians.

Dressed today in a natty leather jacket teamed with a khaki shirt and blue jeans, Matt has a particular rapport with the show’s numerous younger aficionados.

“What has been wonderful about being in the show is that it is watched by children. I mean, some kids freeze. You’re saying: ‘Hey! What’s going on?’ and then they look at their mum as if to say: ‘What is going on?’

“The director brought his three children on set the other day. They watched the filming and I showed them the Sonic Screwdriver and they were like: ‘Whoa!’ And then as they left, these three children just came and involuntarily hugged my legs. I was thinking: ‘This is the best hug I have ever had because it is so genuine.’ That was very nice.

“Children always want to know about the Sonic Screwdriver, or the Tardis, or ask: ‘What’s the scariest alien?’, or ‘Do you get frightened when you’re with the aliens?’ They are all really cool kid questions. There are not boring adult questions. It’s not like, ‘Who’s your girlfriend?’ or ‘Who are you dating?’ Who cares?”

m att retains an appealing childlike enthusiasm for the show, series Series 7, Part 1 of which is available on BBC DVD now. With an infectious passion, Matt says: “I was filming yesterday on this amazing set with this array of particular characters and it was like a fairy land of an alien world. It was remarkable and Jenna and I were just saying to each other: ‘Good day at work, right?’ ”

In the same way, Matt is admirably unbothered by the idea of being typecast as The Doctor. He declares: “There are bigger things to worry about. Who cares? If people want to typecast me, they can. I can sit and have my egg sandwich and not really give a damn about it. It’s up to others.”

For the time being, Matt is relishing the chance of wielding his Sonic Screwdriver during the show’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

“I think for it to get to 50 is remarkable. I am very proud to be in a show with that history and heritage and legacy. To be the incumbent Doctor when it is his birthday is fantastic. We are going to make it the biggest year of the show ever, on a global scale, hopefully.”

One thing Matt will not reveal though, is how long he would like to occupy the Tardis: “I’d like to be there for the next 50 years; or rather, the next 50 million years! No, I take it year by year.

“I will see what comes. I love working for Steven Moffat. I love making the show. It is unlike any job I will ever have and I am proud to have it going into the 50th year.”

Doctor Who is clearly in a very good place and in very good hands but does the fans’ devotion to the show ever get too hot to handle?

“No,” Matt replies, “it doesn’t get too much because the fans are the show and without them there is no show. That is why it has been going for half a century.

“We owe so much to them; they keep us moving. I think the moment you are not good with the fans, you are in the wrong job.”

Doctor Who, Series 7, Part 1, is out now on BBC DVD

What has been wonderful about being in the show is that it is watched by children

Matt Smith

or the time being, Matt is relishing the chance of wielding his Sonic Screwdriver during the show’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

“I think for it to get to 50 is remarkable. I am very proud to be in a show with that history and heritage and legacy. To be the incumbent Doctor when it is his birthday is fantastic. We are going to make it the biggest year of the show ever, on a global scale, hopefully.”

One thing Matt will not reveal though, is how long he would like to occupy the Tardis: “I’d like to be there for the next 50 years; or rather, the next 50 million years! No, I take it year by year.

“I will see what comes. I love working for Steven Moffat. I love making the show. It is unlike any job I will ever have and I am proud to have it going into the 50th year.”

Doctor Who is clearly in a very good place and in very good hands but does the fans’ devotion to the show ever get too hot to handle?

“No,” Matt replies, “it doesn’t get too much because the fans are the show and without them there is no show. That is why it has been going for half a century.

“We owe so much to them; they keep us moving. I think the moment you are not good with the fans, you are in the wrong job.”